[jhund]

In the video that shows the stolen tools in the warehouse, there are hardly any Ryobi tools (HomeDepot's cheap tool brand). This is in stark contrast to many of the recent woodworking videos on Youtube that feature craftspeople using Ryobi tools (without explicitly mentioning an HD sponsorship). The thieves know a good tool, and HD is trying to fool the rest of us that their Ryobi tools are any good.

[CornishPasty]

FYI. Ryobi has nothing to do with Home Depot. It's owned by a Hong Kong power tool manufacturer, and used to be Japanese (in fact, Ryobi still exists as a tool manufacturer, just not the power tool division)

Probably the reason they're not in any of the hauls is because they have a reputation for not being very good, and are harder to sell/fence...

[habosa]

Almost nobody think Ryobi is the best, and almost everybody agrees they’re plenty good for a non-professional toolkit.

[xyst]

If you are a diyer that needs it for maybe 1-2 jobs a year, ryobi is usually not a bad choice.

Personally, I stick with DeWalt because I like quality even though I fall under the “diyer” category. This impact driver has survived 5-6 moves, at least a handful of projects across a few years, and it’s still working as if I just picked it up from the store. Haven’t had to do any maintenance or repairs.

One of the cheaper harbor freight or off brand power tools I picked up many years ago lasted at most 1-2 yrs with only a few projects. Which is the reason I started investing in higher quality (prefer dewalt, but will buy Milwaukee).

[hfe]

What is the brand with the best reputation these days?

[midtake]

Tools are weird like text editors where people get religious about some brands over others. But if your hustle is fencing the most reputable and easy-to-move tools, you would probably want to acquire the standard ones you see in Home Depot and Lowe's, such as Dewalt, Milwaukee, Craftsman, etc. Reputation-wise they're all about the same. Personally I like Makita.

[Tossrock]

If you want gold-plated, there's Hilti, but you're paying a lot extra for a marginal increase in reliability. Milwaukee, Bosch, Makita, and DeWalt are all in the same range, ie contractor/prosumer (and all mostly are manufactured in China). Ryobi is slightly lower but generally fine, ie consumer / price sensitive. Below that is Harbor Freight / no-name electric drill you'd find in am Amazon Basics "essential tools" kit.

[rocqua]

Milwaukee seems to have a strong reputation. in Europe, mafell too.

[tristanb]

If money is no object for most non-specialized tools the best brand is unequivocally Festool

[NegativeLatency]

Pick the color you like best of the reputable manufactures.